Women as a Growing Force in Critical Care Medicine—the Journal, Profession, and Society

Abstract

Can you imagine Critical Care Medicine (CCM) as a profession, a society, or a journal without the contribution and influence of women? Early accounts of the impact of women in critical care came from the experience of bedside nurses. Fifty years ago, few women physicians specialized in critical care, held leadership positions, published as lead authors, or served on editorial boards. Over time, women have become widely dispersed throughout these arenas (Fig. 1). The representation in critical care that women are experiencing in 2022 is partly due to the trailblazers, their professional expertise, and expanding opportunities. The objective of this article is to describe the intertwined contributions of women to the Society of CCM (SCCM) and the journal CCM at this 50-year anniversary. Women have been trendsetters in leadership and medical journalism and important for the future growth of women in SCCM journals.The experiences of the authors within SCCM and CCM are broad and varied, leading to perspectives based on profession, from membership to leadership, as committee volunteers, and as clinicians, authors, and researchers. Although there were many challenges for women in the early years of the organization and journal that are still typical, the determination of many women has led to continuous improvements in inclusivity and equity. Organizational culture and successful roles for women are the result of highly engaged individuals at all levels of the leadership and the staff (male and female). Thus, this article is intended to celebrate women in SCCM and their roles with CCM and identify opportunities for the future. Figure 1. Timeline of Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) key milestones and landmark events for women. ACCM = American College of Critical Care Medicine, CCM = Critical Care Medicine.

Gender and authorship of publications from Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators (PALISI)

“…Since virtually all of the non-physician first authors were women, this may account for the slight increase in first authorship compared to the 2020 data for practicing pediatric critical care physicians. However, the first authors being predominantly women in the most recent period is very different from other recently published similar studies that examined the work product of the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group ( 11 ), high-impact critical care publications ( 12 ), all papers published in CCM ( 3 ), and pediatric critical care randomized control trials ( 13 ). The first two articles showed no difference in women first authorship over time and the latter two showed an increase in women first authors over time, but only to 25% in 2010–2021 and 39% in 2015–2018 respectively.…”

“…While women first authorship has increased over time, the same is not true for senior authorship, as the percentage of women senior authors has stagnated over time. We know that women often do not advance into senior leadership positions ( 3 , 6 , 14 – 16 ). They are underrepresented in critical care societies ( 17 ), critical care task forces ( 18 ), and journal editors ( 3 ), and in general, their numbers decline at each step of the academic ladder ( 6 ).…”

“…We know that women often do not advance into senior leadership positions ( 3 , 6 , 14 – 16 ). They are underrepresented in critical care societies ( 17 ), critical care task forces ( 18 ), and journal editors ( 3 ), and in general, their numbers decline at each step of the academic ladder ( 6 ). While it is inspiring that PALISI has successfully supported emerging women scientists, as evidenced by the rising proportion of women first authors, the network now needs to find a way to close the gap at the senior level.…”

“…There have been no woman editors-in-chief since their inception. The editorial board at PCCM is approximately 27% women, that at CCM is 29% women, and the editorial board at Critical Care Explorations is 50% women ( 3 ). In all three of these journals, reviewers are not blinded to the authors and are potentially aware of the author's gender.…”

“…As the field has grown, so have academic endeavors in research. Critical Care Medicine (CCM) , the official journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, has noted that women account for 25% of first authors in highly cited articles ( 3 ). While pediatrics has had comparatively more women than men complete training since 1989 ( 4 ), women remain underrepresented as authors, reviewers, and editors ( 5 ).…”